Winter In An RV Part Two

During the winter everyone worries about frozen water pipes, including us. When you pull into an RV site you hook up to the water, electricity, and cable TV. Campers provide their own water hoses to connect to the water outlet at the site. The water hose generally rests on the ground, so in cold weather freezing is likely.  In order to prevent the hose from freezing it needs to be insulated. I've seen people who simply cut water noodles (you know...those things you use at the pool) and put them around the hose. That might work to a certain level of cold temps, but it's not foolproof. Other options are to buy a heated hose (about $100) or heat tape (about $20). We have heat tape.

It was a two person job to wrap the hose with aluminum foil, then the heat tape over that, and finally covered with foam pipe insulation secured with good old duct tape. The heat tape plugs into the electricity at our site and keeps the hose warm.

Our MH has a water reserve tank that holds enough water for us for about a week. That's what we use when we're traveling and stop to have lunch or use the restroom. Recently at the KOA there was a water problem (not sure what it was, other than that the whole campground was without water) so we relied on the water in our holding tank. It still goes to the water heater and works just like when we are getting water straight from the KOA. Fortunately the water was only out for about a day, but if it had lasted longer, we would have packed up the MH and gone to another campground or truck stop to get more water. Not ideal, but better than being without water.

We had freezing rain recently and many houses were without power. Although the power didn't go out here at the KOA, if it had, we could have just run our generator. It runs off of gasoline and powers everything in the MH. It's noisy and costs us money since it uses gas, but it's better than being without power.

Oh...I nearly forgot my contribution to keeping us safe in the winter. I'm so proud! The steps to get in and out of the MH are metal and with cold air and freezing rain I was worried that they'd be covered in ice...but they are retractable so we just pulled them in a night (also discourages visitors) to keep them ice-free. Ta-da!

I know most of you are dealing with a harsh winter so I hope you are all staying warm and safe where ever you are.